Sewing Up Spring – Sewing All the Baby Things!…or not

Okay, well not as many of the baby things as I’d like. For my stop on the Sewing by Ti blog tour, Sewing Up Spring, I had such grand plans. An adorable, uterus grabbing capsule of baby goodies: sleep sacks, hats, onesies, booties, skirts, and leggings. Alas, pregnancy had other plans. The fact is, sometimes life throws us a curveball…or 70, and things don’t always go the way we hoped. I hate when that happens, but happens it does. Pregnancy has been no exception.

But oh, I had so many awesome things planned! I wanted to be one of those amazing women and sewists. You know, the ones who go into the hospital with a capsule of outfits sewn for newborn babe, and a mini breastfeeding friendly hospital capsule for themselves. These women also look gorgeous in birth photos. I, of course, look like a tired, pale hospital worker in mine (I had a c-section with my son, so I had a surgical cap on). Alas, I do not seem to be one of those amazing women. SPD (pelvis separation) and now abdominal separation are grounding me from sewing. I have TWO patterns cut that I was testing and physically could not finish. I cannot tell you how much that upsets me. (P.S. they’re awesome patterns: Love Notions Olympia Dress – which can totally be worn for maternity, by the way. I did actually get the bodice put together and tested out for that one. Just took a little bodice shortening to accommodate the giant belly. And Greenstyle Bomber Jacket, which is absolutely fantastic. Fit like a charm – also got the basic jacket sewn up of that one, but couldn’t get the bindings and zipper on. So versatile and fun! Mine is a FT version, like a structured sweatshirt. I can’t wait to be able to finish it!) But that’s how it goes, right? As long as we get a happy, healthy baby, we’ll just put another tally on the board for the miracle of life and keep on keeping on. For those keeping track, that would be Pregnancy: all points ever assigned, Caroline: -1,000. 🙂

So, I couldn’t do things exactly the way I’d hoped. Pregnancy complications, grad school grind, and starting a new business* took up all my time and at times flat out said, “NOPE. You can sit here and cry in pain and that’s it.” But I have still managed to squeeze out a couple of creations for baby girl. And I’m giddy about them. I mean, really, when is a tiny baby hat not adorable?! Make it a River Song hat and DOHMYGOODNESS. Dead.

I’m bigger on the inside! This was around a 33-34 week belly. The current 36-37 week belly has somehow defied physics by tripling in size.

The great thing about this was that it was supremely simple to sew. It’s the Brindille & Twig hat. It was my first time sewing one of their patterns. I had a couple of complaints (no layers and the color key is not printed on the pattern), but overall, I found the pattern to be user friendly. And, as I said, this one was so quick. Even for sloth-sewing me. I would definitely recommend and happily sew again.

The full outfit. B&T hat and P4P Sugar Pie. Doctor Who fabric from Moon Beam of Star Dust & Moon Beam. This baby is starting out right in life!

The dress was another quick sew: Patterns for Pirates Sugar Pie. Only alteration I made was to cut the 6 mo. neckband on the 3 mo. size. Big heads are a thing in my family. I just couldn’t imagine squeezing a baby’s head through an opening that small…clothing or otherwise. 😉

So, yeah, curveballs. But I still produced a cute little outfit and I can’t wait to see it on our little pumpkin. I’m honestly thrilled with it. One of my favorite things I’ve ever made. Even my husband loves it and he’s definitely not the Who fan that my son and I are. I will try to enjoy that feeling for now and try not to dwell on all the adorable creations I have in my head. They can always be sewn later. Now, if this pain would give me a brief reprieve, I could finish everything else and be the amazing sewing birthing mama I dream of being!

*My husband and I have just become a LuLaRoe Retailer! I am a sewist who likes both LLR and sewing my own clothes. I know not everyone does, and that’s okay. But for me, sometimes I sew, sometimes I roe. And this pregnancy, especially, I’ve been grateful for my LLR clothes because I could keep wearing them through pregnancy when I couldn’t sew for myself. If you also love LLR, feel free to join our group. We’d love to have you.